The motoring collective is so knowledgeable on here I thought I would set you a challenge.

I worked over 50 miles away so bought an Alfa Diesel 3 yrs ago. Great car 60+ on the motorway, all good.

We also have an oldish Merc C class estate bought as a demonstrator in 2011. 130k on the clock now and my wife uses it daily and it is our weekend family car, spaniel/weekends in caravan duties etc. 2 kids at uni now so we will likely keep this for a bit longer and maybe change next year for another similar 6-7 yr keeper.

My job now means I am only about 10 miles from the office with little other travel. I would love an EV and test drove a leaf ages ago for a week and loved it. The thing is cost. I like cars and always look after them well but I am loathe to throw money at them so the Alfa replacement needs to be good value and I will likely keep it for a number of years, Annual mileage is now around 8k in the Alfa (Merc does all the longer stuff)

What would you do? What is the most cost effective way of getting into a small EV or hybrid? or alternatively a small economical petrol for the 25 miles a day journey?

Tick – interested for Mrs OTS

the Kia Soul plug in was reasonable value

If I was 10 miles from work I’d ride a bike.

Ive got to ask, because it’s STW – cycle it?

Anyway, what’s behind your decision to change?

Environmentally is makes far more sense to keep your Alfa and maintain it.

Economically is makes far more sense to keep your Alfa and maintain it.

If you want a new car for the joy of change, I’d buy an MX-5, they’re reasonably economical, last well if you look after them and fun to drive.

Used Leaf. Even an high miles early one will manage that absolutely fine. Trouble is, everyone is catching on to how good they are for cheap everyday motoring and used prices have barely dropped in the last year.

Zoe are cheap but the battery is leased – so low upfront but then for 8k miles it’s £69/month. That includes warranty for it (so if it degrades they replace it) and breakdown cover. Think of it like a “fuel cost”, lease plus electric is about the same as a 55mpg car.

Another vote here for cycling to work.

My commute would be 7 miles each way, although when it’s dry I vary it between that and 13 or 28 mil alternatives.  It’s free exercise time for me.

We have a 5 year old Mini Cooper S as the second car, which shouldn’t lose much value as it was quite cheap anyway.

Even an e-bike. Unless your commute is empty a-roads door to door then it won’t be much slower than a car

Good point ref the cycling (or even running) but I have to go from Wirral to Liverpool which means hopping on the train as you cant ride through the Tunnel.

Thanks for the comments so far.

I do get the keeping the Alfa logic, I may do that.

Can’t you take a bike on the ferry at commute times? Wirral to Liverpool would be a lovely bike commute, plus you have the train as bad weather backup. I’d be trying to do without a second car altogether.

How handy are you with the spanners?

here’s the cheapest way into an EV:

http://www.silverlake.co.uk/breakers/details/2015/nissan/leaf/tekna/electric/5+door+hatchback/white/cvt/16217/

(ok, that’s  a breaker, rather than salvage, but there are a few accident damaged EVs turning up these days, and they tend to be cheap because no one wants to fix one, as they are all “scared” of the HV  (all of which is safely tucked away in the bowels of the machine and hidden behind protective contactors, which will have opened the ms the car crashed!)  Find one with a minor front or rear shunt, and i recon you’d have a very cheap car!

My brother’s wife has a Leaf and he loves it. Dirt cheap to run and he leases it on a ridiculously cheap lease deal. I think you’re much better off leasing an EV, the batteries have a finite life and are not economically viable to replace, so a used EV is just a no – no for me. So leasing takes all that hassle away. He’s leasing his for under £200 a month, an incredible deal. Apart from the monthly lease costs it is free motoring.

Trying to talk the wife into getting one but she can’t seem to make the mental leap to go EV.

Anyone know anything about the Twizy? It probably marks me as odd but I think they look kind of cool and if the 2nd vehicle is literally for short solo journeys only (I think you can take a passenger too in a twizy but forgo any luggage capacity) it could be a goer. Maybe. I don’t know if they make economic sense.

Or a petrol moped.

I don’t know what your parking situation is at the new job but I’d be tempted to go as small as possible in your situation and take parking completely out of the equation if not keeping the current Alpha.

Actually quite handy with the spanners but a bit time poor… Same really for the commute. Yes ferry nice but adds significant time to my commute, adding on changing and cycling it is not really an option. Possible yes, time practical no. At least not at the moment plus I need some time and energy for my daily run.

That Leaf option sounds good, what is the best lease deal available?

The Kia is a good deal and I spoke to a guy in our car park who had one and loved it. I get free parking BTW.

Environmentally is makes far more sense to keep your Alfa and maintain it.

Economically is makes far more sense to keep your Alfa and maintain it.

If you want a new car for the joy of change, I’d buy an MX-5, they’re reasonably economical, last well if you look after them and fun to drive.

This. But maybe an older Elise instead of the MX5? The first ones have pretty much finished depreciating now so dead cheap in the long run.